Too pretty and too sexy for Italian television                                                                                                       By Suzanne Busch

After decades of weather bulletins presented by military colonels in full uniform, Italian television got its first weather girls last September.

But the outlook does not seem too bright for the first to hit the airwaves, a former Miss Italy. She has already run into trouble for being too sexy. Italian TV is infamous for its scantily-clad girls, who are a regular feature - dancing, presenting or just looking pretty - usually alongside a much older, less attractive male presenter. But Eleonora Pedron, 21, proved there is such a thing as too sexy for Italian TV when she was suspended for doing a rather raunchy magazine spread in Capital magazine, sporting only a G-string. According to Emilio Fede, presenter and editor of the news on TV channel Rete 4, the weather should informative and entertaining - but not sexy." The only thing that upset him is that he had an image of me as a nice, quiet girl," Ms Pedron explained. "And then he found himself looking at photos which were rather different to those I've done before. "I told him, 'Look, I don't think four photos change my character, or my behaviour. I'm still the same. I don't change'", she said. Weather presenting was Ms Pedron's first job in television - and her first bulletins made somewhat uncomfortable viewing.

Cheery presence: More than six months on it is clear she is not yet completely at home between the camera and the weather map. But she has a cheerful, smiley manner which brightens up even the dullest forecast in a way even the most-loved military meteorologists do not quite manage. The bulletin is always rounded off with some kind of proverb. Two weeks ago, on one of her first programmes after she returned from her "suspension", Ms Pedron asked Mr Fede how many marks out of 10 it was worth. "Eleven?" she asked hopefully. But she was met with a look of disgust, and a disparaging "two". However, Ms Pedron insisted he was joking, and that everything was fine between them now. Mr Fede may want his weather presenter to be less sexy and more serious, but it could be argued that he himself is lacking in credibility. He is often referred to as "Emilio Fido" for his lapdog-like behaviour towards Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who also owns the channel Rete 4. Just minutes before the "marks out of 10" exchange he devoted a significant amount of airtime to yet another outburst in defence of his beloved leader and boss. Earlier this week, a leading television journalist in Italy resigned from her job, after criticising Mr Berlusconi over his media influence. Future replacements: The longer-term forecast for Ms Pedron's career is a little hazy. The last Miss Italy may have turned out to be too sexy for him, but Mr Fede is now eyeing up her successor as Miss Italy, Francesca Chillemi, as a future Miss Weather. Obviously, she is not considered quite as sexy as Ms Pedron. Not that he would have any trouble finding another attractive girl if Ms Chillemi, 18, were to say no. There are scores of them lining up for TV fame, regardless of how much - or how little - they may be expected to wear. One of Italy's most popular programmes is Striscia la Notizia or Strip the News - no, not 'strip' in that sense. The show is 30 minutes of Italian prime time six nights a week, which investigates complaints made by callers, and plays funny out-takes from the last 24 hours of Italian television.

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